I’m worried about my evergreens. Two weeks ago, we had a stretch of windy weather. The same turbulent skies produced the earliest-ever tornado. So these weren’t garden-variety winds. There were 50-mph gusts. One took down my garden fence.

I was so distracted by that incident that I failed to notice a more serious problem: Two pine trees had also been badly buffeted by the winds.

Bonnie Blodgett

I’d neglected to wrap the two matching columnar eastern white pines (Pinus strobus “Fastigiata”), on the opposite side of the garden from the fallen fence, on the assumption that the trees would be fine because they are relatively sheltered.

I’ve had the trees for four years. They are well over 12 feet tall and quite healthy. They are hardy here, unlike the ones I lost that they replaced, a pair of Japanese white pines that were as expensive as they were fragile, sort of like fine crystal wine glasses, which, come to think of it, they resembled.

The evergreens I always worry about are the Holmstrup arborvitaes. They are susceptible to both winterburn and sunscald. These two syndromes represent the same problem, caused by different things. The problem is dessication.

“Dessication” means drying out. When an evergreen’s foliage doesn’t go into winter well- hydrated, it uses up whatever water is available to keep the needles flexible before winter ends, the soil softens and its roots are once again able to absorb water.

If the soil is frozen, it can’t absorb water, even if the snow melts and turns the streets into streams and lakes. (Potholes are the lakes.)

In fact, without the spongy soil to take in the melted snow, it’s even more likely to run off into storm drains, which is why it’s so important that we keep leaves and other detritus out of our storm drains.

My twin columnar pines face the singular challenge of living under a huge, thirsty oak tree. It’s just possible they went into their winter dormancy dehydrated. I tend to forget about the oak’s habit of robbing nearby plants of their fair share of the water, and I didn’t water as late in the season as I usually do. I can’t remember why.

I looked up from my fence project to ask my dog, Fred, to stop barking at the neighbor on the opposite side of the yard who was only trying to carry his groceries from his garage to his house (i.e., not trying to murder me, as Fred apparently believed), when my eye fell on the pine trees.

They looked terrible.

How terrible?

I wish I knew. I’ve never worried about a dessicating long-needled conifer before, the two Japanese pines having died so fast I didn’t have time to worry. So I don’t know what to look for in order to evaluate their replacements’ overall health.

The needles aren’t turning brown, but they are drooping. They appear to be a paler shade of blue than they were last summer. I’m not sure about this either, but it seems there are fewer of them. Could they be dying and dropping to the ground?

It’s too late to get out the burlap that I should have wrapped around them in the fall. I can only wait until the soil thaws to get out the hose and see if the trees perk up.

Meanwhile, it’s sunny outside as I write this and I know that even though my pine trees are partially shaded, this does not help with dessication.

I did check on the Holmstrups. They are planted close to the front (south-facing) side of the house and somewhat protected by a protruding front porch. Maybe that’s why for the past two years that I haven’t been wrapping them. They have survived without a trace of sunscald or winterburn.

GARDENING TOOLS

Corresponding with fellow gardening addicts is one of the delights of writing this column. Usually we swap advice and what I get from them I share with you. Sometimes we swap stuff.

This past week, a package came in the mail. It contained two garden trowels. The man who makes them, Mitch Hermiston of Wilcox All-Pro Tools, lives in Coralville, Iowa. So they made quite the journey from there to here.

The trowel Mitch sent me almost 10 years ago will be delighted to have two new siblings.

Yes, I recognized the trowels immediately upon opening the package.

They are, just as Mitch pitched, incredibly good at what they do. The one I’ve been using for 10 years looks just like it did when I opened its box, minus the dirt. The stainless steel business end retains its sharp pointed edge, shaped like a wedge instead of the usual curve so as to penetrate more forcefully the most compacted soil.

Because the trowel was sent to me the first time as a bulb planter, it still has the easy-to-read numbers etched into the steel denoting inches.

No more guessing how deep a hole you’re digging. No more tape measure falling out of your pocket and getting left behind in the dirt when planting is done.

The trowel has a hard rubber handle with a comfortable grip and a leather tie for easy hanging from a hook.

The two I received are not identical. One is about 2 inches longer and a bit wider. It will be perfect for planting annuals and large containers and rooting around in the vegetable garden. It will also not be as easy to lose.

The handles are bright red, speaking of misplacing things. That, too, is a bonus.

Each trowel weighs in at just under a pound, give or take a few ounces. The tools are heavy enough to do serious labor but not so heavy as to give you carpel tunnel.

Mitch has thought of everything. You can find him and his full line of garden trowels at willcoxallpro.com.

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